To protect and serve…. All Vance Connelly ever wanted to do was continue his family’s tradition and join the Tampa Police Department, but his dreams were crushed the day he woke with the enhanced mark on his face. After years of struggling to adjust to life as an enhanced human, by a stroke of luck, he met Talon Valdez and became a proud member of the FBI’s Human Enhanced Rescue Organization.

Samuel “Angel” Piper is eager to leave his DEA undercover work behind as he joins the HERO team as Vance’s regular human partner. But Sam’s painful past is ever present, just below the surface of the life he has built for himself as an ambitious young agent. When the team investigates rumors of a new drug using enhanced blood, the case’s mysterious connection to Sam threatens not just his life but Vance’s.

Trust doesn’t come easy for Sam, but Vance is willing to fight to convince his partner that the strength of his heart might be the salvation they both need.

While I haven’t read previous books in this series, the blurb for this one sounded interesting, so I thought why not?

Also reminded me of THIRDS, so that was another selling point. The world building is interesting, and both Sam and Vance are intriguing characters. They both have complicated past, which makes attraction between them complicated, as they battle insecurities trying to connect. The potential for great story is there, but sadly, that was were my interest begun and ended.

I really, really didn’t need that much information about their pasts, especially since it so much of it was ugly (bullying and child abuse). It completely overshadowed everything else, and both romance and suspense plot faded in the background. I didn’t get anything about Sam and Vance except the past, and it’s hard to care about characters which you only have vague picture of. Their pasts, yes, but not what makes them tick now. Both plots got resolved quickly, and after slow lead in it was disappointing. Since it was so rushed, it didn’t make much sense to me. (And honestly, one character re-appearance stretched the plot to incredulity. Yes, I know it’s fiction, but this was little too much for me.)